Mr. Speaker, this is Mental Illness Awareness Week. Nearly six million Canadians will likely suffer mental illness in their lifetimes. Mental illness is not limited to age, socio-economic status or gender, but we know that some groups are disproportionately affected in our society. The causes of mental illness are biological, social, psychological and spiritual.
The stigma of mental illness forces patients and their families into the shadows, ashamed to speak out or seek treatment, yet the associated high risk of suicide and substance abuse demands early intervention.
Unfortunately, in Canada far fewer resources are dedicated to research, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness than to physical disease.
It is time to bring mental illness into the same prominence as physical disease in the health care continuum as core necessary services under the Canada Health Act.